Black Lagoon: The Time of Angels
by FreedomFighter2184
Summary: Roanapur, a city of crime forgotten by time has grown corrupt beyond measure. Now the debt those sins have wrought must be collected by an angel of the five fates and Hotel Moscow is directly in its sights. Time never forgets. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1: Beginning of Time

**[A/N:** Hello and welcome to my fan fiction 'Black Lagoon: The Time of Angels'. This is my first fan fiction and I have worked very hard to try and make it the best I can, so I hope you enjoy it. Please read and leave reviews, I work hard on every aspect of my works and want to know what I am doing right and even more what I am doing that needs improvement. If you have any questions regarding anything about this fan fiction or would just like to point out problems in it then please feel free to PM me at any time.**]**

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><p>Black Lagoon: The Time of Angels<p>

Chapter 1: Beginning of Time

Torrential rains and howling winds battered against the weathered buildings and played against windows as if they were drums. The land covered in darkness even when it would be expected to be warmed by the Sun's light. In this city where an eternal stone Buddha fat with false food stood guard over the harbor, and streets usually filled with the sounds of business and crime was silent and the streets empty. Time had long forgotten the city of the breathing dead much as it had forgotten the stone centurion which guarded it. But nothing is ever truly forgotten by the all encompassing ruler of the universe that is time. Eventually all things must come to terms with what has come before, and suffer the consequences which the five fates shall bring down upon them.

Roanapur continued to be hammered by the berating monsoon, which turned day to night. The storm's ferocity choked the life from the usually lively city of sin and vice as no one wished to deal with nature's temper.

In a bar called the 'Yellow Flag' a good many patrons sat drinking and conversing in their select groups, few trusting the others surrounding them. While a majority held no respect for most in the bar, they all knew to keep distance between themselves and the woman sitting at the far left side of the bar counter with her male coworker. Some dared not speak of her or even look in her direction, for fear of encoring the wrath of the one they called 'Two-Hands'.

To those that knew her personally Revy was the gunslinger's name, while the Japanese business man who looked out of place in such a city was called Rock.

"I fuckin' hate rain..." Revy complained, as she downed another shot of rum placing the empty glass down to be refilled by the bar tender Bao.

"I know you do Revy." Rock flatly replied to his coworker's complaints, while conservatively drinking his own beer. "But just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's going to just go away. No matter how many times you say it."

"I know that Rock. What ya' think I am stupid!" She retorted and raising her voice before downing the next shot.

Rock sighed, paying no attention to the increase in her voice, having gotten used to it long ago. "No Revy... But look at it this way at least no one is trying to shoot us or hire us to transport anything today because of the weather. Dutch even gave us the whole day off." He tried to reason to her.

"The only reason we got the day off is so he doesn't have to pay us..." The gunslinger countered. After she downed the shot in her glass she added; "That cheap bastard," almost mumbling the last part.

Her partner gave a heavy sigh of defeat; he knew that she was actually right about why they had been given the day off. Deciding it was simply better to leave it at that he just took another sip from his beer.

For a few minutes they sat in silence while the other patrons continued their own conversations. But then something that normally would attract little attention from the occupants of the bar, pulled the eyes of most everyone to the front door. Someone had just entered the bar; while on any other day most wouldn't pay any mind to someone entering the bar, it was a maelstrom outside and no one was walking around outside in such weather. Though this wasn't the only reason the individual was more closely being watched than most, their appearance was rather unusual and secretive. A heavy black hooded cloak covered the newcomer; completely hiding their body behind the closed cloak, and shrouding their face in shadows under the hood. The newcomer simply remained standing in front of the entrance for a few moments not moving an inch, clearly not bothered by but very aware of everyone looking at them. Once the patrons lost interest in the individual and continued on with their own conversations, the cloaked stranger seemingly glided to the bar and took the seat immediately to Rock's right.

Out the corner of his eye Rock watched the stranger not all together sure if they were hostile or not. Experience all too often dictated that new faces in this town often meant trouble, but the individual now seated next to him had yet to utter so much as a whisper.

As if on cue the person spoke. "Bartender..." The voice surprised Rock, "I doubt you have any flat water fit to call drinkable, so just get me a glass of soda water." It was a woman's voice.

Bao seemed mildly irritated by the woman's condescending and very blunt comment, but just nodded his head in acknowledgement before producing a tall glass of soda water, placing it in front of her.

Slowly the front of the all concealing sleeveless cloak parted enough for the woman's slender arms to move out and up towards her hood to remove it from over her head. Her arms and hands were covered by a sold gray fabric which hugged tightly against them. When the heavy hood was lowered Rock was even more shocked by what the woman looked like: Her long dark brown hair was held up in a ponytail much like Revy's only positioned a bit higher up the back of her head, her light colored skin seemed as smooth as that of a newborn, and her face that of a beautiful young Caucasian woman. Rock then realized her height, which should have suggested she was a woman when she first entered; she could only have been 5 foot four, maybe 5 foot five at most, even Revy would tower over her.

Revy watched the newcomer with the eyes of a hawk not caring to be discreet like her partner; she was scrutinizing every move and feature of the woman. Something about this woman from the moment she entered the Yellow Flag didn't sit right with the gunslinger, there was something about the aura of her that smelled off to her. When the suspect woman opened her deep brown eyes Revy instantly knew what the odd sent and feeling she got from the stranger was... Those eyes had a cold a stolid stare, Revy wanted the woman gone as fast as possible. Without warning Revy pulled Rock from his seat and changed places with him as to be sitting next to the strange woman.

"What kind of fuckin' pussy comes to a bar and gets water?" Revy rudely started. "If you want some fuckin' water then I suggest ya' go stand outside, look up and open your damn mouth! You come to a bar for somethin' with a kick." She told the smaller woman.

The stranger simply took another sip of the bubbling water, seemingly paying no heed to the snide comments.

This only served to anger the temperamental gunslinger. "Hey bitch! I'm talking to you, ya' little shit!"

"Revy...! Please calm down." Rock pleaded, he didn't want things to escalate as they usually did when Revy had been irritable and drinking. "Just leave her be..." He knew though she had been drinking, Revy was not under the influence of it, and clear headed... Well as clear headed as the trigger happy woman could be, though that is what worried him the most.

"Shut up Rock!" She snapped back, this stranger didn't seem to care that she had said anything to her, and that pissed her off. "Why don't you try something harder than fucking water. You better damn well listen to me when I'm talkin' bitch!"

The smaller woman calmly placed her glass on the bar top. "You're loud and annoying you know that..." She finally replied calmly; her voice was feminine but not high in pitch, and had no low growl behind it like Revy's own. "Though I guess it makes sense, stupid is what stupid does; and drinking that poison is about a stupid as it gets."

Rock was silent, and though Revy was facing the smaller woman Rock could see her gripping her empty shot glass, her knuckles turning white from her grip. He knew the woman had hit the right button, and she had hit it square on the nose. _'Oh no...'_ Rock thought.

"You little...!" Revy growled. "You wanna fuckin' die bitch!" She moved her left hand to grip the pistol slung under her right shoulder.

The other woman just smiled and laughed in reply. "HA!... And you say I'm the pussy. Only weak, brutish, empty-headed cavemen use guns to fight. Though I guess you fit that bill pretty much to the letter don't you?"

Was this woman crazy? Rock couldn't believe it, she was laughing at a death threat coming from someone parading around with two guns under her arms. Not only that, but she was adding more fuel to the fire by the truck load. "Calm down Revy..." Rock pleaded again, wanting to avoid confrontation, partly because Bao would surely make them cover the damages, again. "I don't think this is such a great idea, Revy."

Revy had had it. "Fuck off, dipshit. I'm gonna make this cunt even uglier." She replied angrily. Revy launched her right fist at the woman's head. Said woman had decided to take another sip of water, the glass in her right hand and her eyes closed. Rock knew she was going to get flattened out by the hit.

But to his, Bao's, and most of all Revy's surprise the small petite woman was now holding Revy's balled up fist in her left hand several inches from her face. She had blocked the sucker punch without bothering to look, and stopped it like her assailant was a child. "I guess you really are as stupid as you look. Though I must admit I'm surprised how weak that was; I figured any woman in this town would be stronger than this." Commented the smaller woman disappointingly.

"Oh that's it!" Revy snapped. "You're fucking dead!" Revy launched her left hand at the woman, having unsuccessfully tried to free her right hand.

But the still seated stranger used her attacker's own captured arm against her, shifting Revy's right arm over above her left then moved it down, shifting the course of the incoming attack, all in one smooth motion. Then without stopping she smoothly pushed her hand up and away back towards Revy; the simple, effortless motions sent Revy flying back, falling to the floor on her ass.

Rock as well as, Bao and everyone else now watching the scene unfold stared in utter amazement and shock at what had just happened. Without even disturbing her seated position, this stranger had sent the feared Revy Two-Hands crashing to the ground.

Bao was surprisingly the first to speak up. "I recognize that! That was T'ai Chi wasn't it?"

The woman smiled in reply. "That's right." She gave him a knowing look. "It looks like someone has quite a past. Certainly more than one of just a simple bartender."

Bao nodded before verbally confirming. "Yeah, served in the forces for a while, they thought us all sorts of hand-to-hand, including T'ai Chi. But I've only ever seen eighty year T'ai Chi old masters able to do what you just did."

She just shrugged letting a sly smile crease her lips as she stood to face Revy, who was just now regaining her footing.

"I don't give two shits what fancy crap you think you know." Revy growled. "I'm still gonna kick your smug cunt ass." She hurled herself at the other woman, ready to put her down.

But she again met the floor, though this time face first as the smaller woman threw her past her with another simple and elegant redirecting of Revy's own momentum and balance.

This time however, it seemed Revy had almost planned for this to happen, as she quickly caught herself, grabbing the empty chair to her right and swinging it around towards the woman's side. Even with such little time to act the newcomer grabbed onto one of the chair legs with both hands, and cart wheeled over the improvised weapon. Her cloak remained wrapped around her upper body and the majority of her legs, the whole time protecting any hidden secrets which it held. Once both feet were firmly planted on the wooden floor the nimble woman pulled and swung the chair to her right, taking Revy who was still holding the other end for a violent ride as she was uprooted from the ground and thrown over one table and crashing into the next.

Several of the more cowardly patrons had already fled the bar, while the others moved to the far end of the room next to the entrance to avoid the cat fight.

Revy launched herself at the small woman, flipping the table between them up at the woman obscuring her from her sight. Taking advantage of this Revy jumped up and planting her right foot on the upright table edge she lunged at the stranger like a falcon diving at it target. All the smaller fighter had time to do was cross her forearms in front of her face to block the heavy boot clad blow aimed for her face. Revy cracked a evil grin when she saw the gut reaction of her opponent, it proved she wasn't invincible, and even she was limited in her reaction time. Revy swung her other leg around while still in mid air, planning on blindsiding the cloaked fighter while her first foot was still firmly planted against the other woman's forearms. But the other knew that the second blow was coming; at the last second she removed her left arm from supporting the right against the first attack and brought it between her and Revy's shin. The hit shook the newcomer, but she stubbornly remained upright, her feet firmly rooted to the ground like they were cemented to it.

Quickly she retaliated by grabbing Revy's right ankle with her left hand and the left with her right, bringing her body around and hurling Revy towards the bar, sending her flying over and straight into the shelves behind.

Many larger groups rushed to leave the bar, and Rock noticed that the strange woman looked at the retreating patrons with a rushed frustration covering her face. Glancing one last time towards where she had thrown Revy the woman rushed out of the bar into the horrible weather outside, not even bothering to replace her hood over her head. Not sparing a second more Rock rushed around the bar to check Revy's condition.

The gunslinger in question was sitting unconscious in a pool of alcohol and shattered bottles underneath the broken shelving. "aarrgh…." A groan of discomfort came from the woman's mouth, as her eyes slowly opened. She was sore all over and her body felt like was hit by a runaway tractor-trailer; she couldn't feel her left arm but the shoulder was killing her, and her left ankle throbbed and pulsated in pain.

Rock quickly moved to help his partner up, noticing that her left shoulder was clearly dislocated and the left ankle was swollen and red probably sprained. Before he could carry the semi-conscious woman, her right arm slung over his shoulders, out to the parked car outside a loud "Ahem!" rang out from behind them. Rock froze in place and look over his shoulder nervously at the source of the agitated sound, Bao. The bar owner didn't look happy in the least with the current state of his bar; especially with the fact that it was once again because of the female employee of the Lagoon Company.

"So who's gonna pay for all this exactly?" Bao asked incredulously.

"Ahh... I'll have Dutch call you tomorrow Bao." Rock replied nervously, hopping the man would accept the reply for now.

"...Fine." The bartender finally replied. "Just one thing."

"Yeah?"

"Get the hell out of my bar!" Bao snapped at the Japanese business man.

Rock complied as quickly as he could while carrying the weight of his partner.

"Argh…"

"You finally awake Revy?" Dutch asked the gunslinger sprawled out on the couch across from his own seat, but not bothering to look up from the newspaper in his hands.

"…hmm… Just five more minutes…" Revy mumbled groggily.

"You've already used up thirty-six 'five more minutes' Revy. Work starts at nine a.m. for most people." Her boss replied flatly. "Oh, and in case you don't care to do the math, thirty-six times five is three hours."

"Ahhh. My fucking head!" Revy yelled, now very much awake. "I feel like I got run over by a god damned truck." She continued before trying to sit upright, finding it very difficult to move at all.

"With how you look right now I wouldn't be surprised if you were hit by a truck. You look like crap." Dutch commented, having finally lowered the paper so he could look at her. "What the hell happened to you last night? When Rock got you back here we had to set your shoulder right and wrap up your ankle; he also said I needed to call Bao today about something. If you wrecked the Flag last night it's coming out of your pay."

Revy finally succeeded in sitting upright, wincing when she heard him say he was cutting her pay. Normally she would berate him about it, but she was too sore to care at the moment. "I don't feel like talkin' about last night." She replied after a minute.

At that moment the front door opened revealing Rock and Benny on the other side. When Benny looked at Revy he was shocked at what he saw; Revy's left arm was in a sling, and her swollen ankle was wrapped up. "What the hell happened to you Revy? You look like you lost a fight with a gorilla." The resident computer expert questioned.

"Well fuck you to Benny…" She spat.

Dutch decided it was time to change the topic of conversation before someone got hurt. "Hey Rock, you didn't happen to notice anything odd or out of place yesterday while you two were at the Flag did you?" He inquired.

Rock's expression was one of confusion while he reviewed the previous day. "No not really. Well, other than the woman who Revy got into a fight with last night at the Flag. Why do you ask?"

Dutch folded the day's paper to show the front page and threw it onto the table in front of him, indicating for everyone to look at the headline. **'SIX HOTEL MOSCOW MEMBERS FOUND DEAD'** "Because it looks like something big is getting ready to happen." His voice was an ominous one.

The business man couldn't believe it. "Six?..."

"Yeah, and they were together not alone. Moreover, they weren't shot. Not a single bullet wound on any of them; apparently they were cut to ribbons by sharp-edged weapons like a sword." Dutch elaborated while everyone else looked at the image accompanying the headline: In the image there were six bodies covered with cloth sheets that were more gray in the black-and-white picture than white, implying serious injury to the bodies beneath.

Rock noticed something else in the photo that didn't seem right. "Hey Dutch, where are all the guns and spent shells? I only see one pistol in the picture."

The veteran lowered his head slightly before answering. "That's the other thing: From what they can piece together that pistol _was_ the only gun that was drawn before the guy was cut down, all the others were dead before they even had time to go for their own."

Revy looked up from the paper to Dutch, not believing what she was hearing. "That's a load of crap. They may have been low ranking members, but they were still part of Hotel Moscow; guys like that would be shot by Ol' Fry Face the second she saw them."

Her boss looked at Revy with a knowing look before asking the question on everyone's mind: "So who do we know of that is capable of doing this to grunt level members of Hotel Moscow?"

"The only person I know who might be able to do this is Chinglish." Revy quickly offered, clearly already having given the subject thought.

"I have to agree that Shenhua is the only person we know of with the skills;" Rock agreed, "but I can't imagine Mister Chang would try pulling something like this. I mean, the Triad would gain nothing by killing off members of Hotel Moscow like this; a war between the two would practically destroy Roanapur, and the Triad is at a disadvantage to Hotel Moscow concerning manpower."

Dutch rubbed the back of his bald head thoughtfully. "Do you think we could have another Hansel and Gretel type scenario on our hands?" It was a valid question, outside individuals didn't usually come to the port city to stir up trouble without being given incentives to do so by a group within Roanapur.

Rock answered after a few moments of silence. "I suppose it is possible. But the question of who would want to back them is still the big obstacle to the theory." He countered. "I am almost positive Mister Chang wouldn't look for help from someone outside of the Triad for something like this even if he wanted to start something; the Cartel's presence here has basically disappeared, and after what happened during the Hansel and Gretel incident I doubt the Italian Mafia would dare try anything like that again."

The office once again fell silent as no one could argue that Rock had valid points. But at the same time the idea that an outsider had come to Roanapur specifically to declare war on at least one of the controlling factions was unheard of.

"What I would really like to know is who gave Revy a beat down." Benny spoke up for the first time since the conversation had began, steering the conversation away from the stalled topic. "Seriously I haven't seen you look like that since your little fight with Roberta."

Revy offered only a cold death glair to the man in reply.

"Revy decided to pick a fight with some stranger last night while we were at the Yellow Flag." Rock knew Revy's pride would keep her from giving a actual answer to the question, so he spoke for her.

Benny gave a quizzical look to the two of them. "Was the stranger the incredible Hulk or something?" He added sarcastically.

"Actually…" Rock looked towards the woman now giving him a death glare before continuing. "It was a five foot four woman, who probably couldn't have weighed more than 115 pounds."

"Excuse me…?" This time it was their boss who reacted to the information. "You're trying to tell us that _our_ Revy Two-Hands got her ass handed to her by a doll?" Dutch wasn't completely convinced.

Instead of arguing against Rock like Dutch expected Revy to do, she surprised the veteran by grunting and averting her gaze away from everyone around her. To Dutch this could only mean one thing, Rock wasn't trying to pull a fast one on him. Revy really had gotten beaten by some random stranger who was far smaller than her.

The business man nodded in confirmation. "She all but called Revy a coward for relying on guns and Revy went off on the woman. For most of the fight the woman didn't even seem to be trying; every time Revy tried to hit her she would just grab on and send Revy in another direction. Hell, she even did a cartwheel over a chair when Revy swung it at her and then threw Revy into a table."

Benny was somewhere between bewildered shock and mischievous amusement about how Revy was so easily outclassed. "Wait, wait, wait! Revy didn't even land a hit?"

"Well up until that point no. After that she flipped a table at the woman and jumped over it to kick her. As fast as that woman was she must of realized she couldn't dodge the attack so she used her arms to block Revy's first kick, and just barely managed to protect herself from the second. Then she grabbed Revy's ankles and threw her into the shelves behind the bar. But immediately after she just ran out of the Flag for no real reason that I can think of."

Dutch hummed to indicate he understood what had happened, and why he was supposed to call Bao. "Do you think she is going to be a direct threat to us?"

Revy finally spoke for the first time in several minutes. "Nah. She ain't a threat to us. Hell she probably couldn't give two shits about us, even after our fight."

"And what makes you so sure of that Revy?"

"Her eyes." The gunslinger replied knowingly.

Dutch raised an eyebrow at this. "What about her eyes?"

"They were as cold, empty, and hollow as a rotted carcass. She's been dead for a hell of a long time; just a walking corpse that refuses to lay down and rot."

Rock just looked at the woman next to him. He had heard her talk about someone else like that before when they were on the old German U-boat; but back then she had been talking about herself.

"She sounds like the perfect candidate to work for us then. Hell, I'd actually hire her if I wasn't certain that the two of you two would be trying to kill each other the whole time." Dutch commented in at first sarcastic tone which quickly took a more serious edge to it. "Well I guess I need to go call Bao and see how much you're out on your next paycheck Revy." Dutch said, getting up from the old chair and walking into the kitchen to call the Yellow Flag.


	2. Chapter 2: Council of Serpents

Chapter 2: Council of Serpents

The day after the shocking headlines a meeting was called for mid-afternoon. A meeting between the heads of Roanapur once a rare happening had become more common due to recent events. Two of the serpent heads awaited the arrival of the third and final head in their dark and dingy council chamber.

An expensive black car pulled to a stop outside the unassuming doors leading to the meeting place. The driver, a hulk of a man bearing a scare running from the right of his forehead down to his left cheek, got out and opened the rear driver side door to allow the most powerful head of Roanapur to step onto the dirty street. Horrible burn scars marred the tall blonde woman's face, neck, and collarbone. "Thank you Sergeant."

The man did not verbally reply, offering instead a curt nod in acknowledgment of the small pleasantry offered by his superior.

With the car secure the two entered a door guarded by several heavily armed men each as ridged as a statue. After descending into the depths of the building the new arrivals entered the moderately lit room.

The black haired man wearing large sunglasses turned to greet the new arrivals. "Fashionably late as always Balalaika," the man jeered, "Even though you were the one who wanted have this meeting in the first place."

Balalaika the leader of Hotel Moscow in Roanapur gave her Triad counterpart only a simple reply. "I arrive when it suites me Chang." It was a true enough statement. The Russian woman never formed her schedule around what others wanted; preferring to break any illusion someone may have about being her superior.

"Why in the name of the virgin mother are we here?" The blonde headed Italian Mafia leader known as 'Ronny the Jaws' asked, obviously not pleased with having to come to meet with his rivals.

Balalaika gave him an incredulous look, holding neither respect nor trust for the new Italian leader. "I believe the answer to that question should be obvious; even to an imbecile such as you."

"What was that you bi–"

"Now settle down kids." Chang interrupted the hot headed man before he could say something he would regret. "Why don't we keep to the most pressing topic, the reason we are here right now: The fact that someone seems to be directly targeting members of Hotel Moscow."

"Wait, that's why this stupid meeting was called? 'Cause one damn headline about couple of idiots getting themselves wacked? One incident doesn't mean that someone's out to get ya'!"

A cocky smirk plastered on his face, Chang looked at Balalaika knowingly from behind his glasses. "I happen to know of two attacks on Hotel Moscow prior to the headline news, as well as last night's unreported incident and the missing supply shipments."

Balalaika glared at the dark haired sunglass wearing man, she was not pleased with the Chinese man's intricate knowledge of her organization's recent problems. "Well now aren't you a well informed little birdie. Might I inquire the meddlesome rodent you hear of such scandalous things from?"

Chang only laughed. "You know a bird never reveals where it gets the juiciest worms." Up until that point his demeanor had been a cheery one, but it quickly took a rapid plunge towards serious. "Just before I left for this meeting I was informed of something you won't like hearing Balalaika."

The woman quickly took notice of the man's rapid change in behavior. "And what would that be exactly?"

"A few of my men discovered the bodies of two of your collectors less than an hour ago in different alleyways. Both bodies were fresh and still bleeding out; all the money they had collected gone except for a few bloodstained bills."

"Sergeant, I want to know if what Mr. Chang is saying is true immediately!" Balalaika roared to her subordinate officer, standing just behind her.

Her second-in-command already had his phone out waiting for her order before calling their headquarters to check on the status of the payment collectors out that day. After several moments of silence other than the occasional Russian word or two from Boris to the person on the other end he finally ended the call. He looked to Balalaika who was waiting for him to report his findings. "My apologies Captain, it would appear Radomir and Mark have not been heard from for several hours."

"Then I would have to conclude that what Mr. Chang has told us is true." Balalaika said irritation now clear in her voice. "Though for all I know Chang," she continued, "You could of very well had them killed hoping to use these recent events to cover your tracks."

Knowing that the shrewd woman would accuse him of being the one behind the death of the two collectors Chang was ready for it. "You're right. In reality the only proof I can give you to the contrary is my own word, and we all know how much you trust what other people say. This person operates cleanly and make sure not to leave behind anything that can be used to track them down…" Chang paused for a moment a telling grin on his face; Balalaika could tell there was more to his comment.

"Alright Chang," she started. "What do you know?"

Reaching into his pocket Chang pulled out a cell phone. "Well, since you asked so nicely I guess I should tell you. This guy may be careful about not leaving any trace of himself but everyone slips up eventually, and it would appear he did with one of your men." He reached back into his pocket while holding the phone in the other hand. "One of your collectors must have realized he was being tailed and just before he got himself dismembered he got a picture of his attacker. The phone was smashed beyond repair but the memory stick survived." Placing the retrieved memory card into the phone Chang found what he was looking for and offered the device to Balalaika. Boris took the phone from the Triad leader and held for Balalaika to see what was on the small screen.

The image filling the screen was blurry almost to the point of being illegible; but after a moment or two of scrutinizing the picture the former military captain was able to make sense of the dark image. It was a close up of the attacker's face, their eyes were concealed behind graphite colored goggles and the rest of the face was covered by a mask of the same color. None of the person's features were visible in the image and therefore it offered no real hints as to the attacker's identity. "And what good does this do me exactly?" The blonde asked the black haired man.

"It's true that you can't actually find the person with it unless they just so happen to make a habit of walking around with that on all day, which I doubt. But your men will be that much more informed of this person's appearance, so they may be able to avoid the same fate as the others."

Boris removed the memory card from the phone and quickly placed the phone into Chang's outstretched hand. Chang promptly replaced the cell phone back into the pocket from whence it came.

Balalaika decided it was finally time to end the meeting. Without saying a word she turned to leave, but a few steps short of the door she stopped and looked over her right shoulder. "I expect to be informed if either of you find out anything more about this new pest." Her voice was ominous and the implied threat was absolute. After making her intentions clear she walked out the door, abruptly concluding the meeting.

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><p><strong>8:56pm; Lower port district<strong>

Dead… They were all dead except for him. Anton franticly looked around, continuing to run between the old warehouses as the rain soaked his clothes. Anton hadn't caught so much as a glance at what had been systematically killing his comrades.

Just over four hours ago the foot soldiers of Hotel Moscow had been shown the blurry camera phone picture. They were told to be on guard and on the lookout for anyone using similar equipment. At around 6:30pm Anton and four other newer members of Hotel Moscow had decided to search the port districts for the killer in an attempt to gain favor with their superiors. For two hours they patrolled the countless warehouses in search of their prize with no success, but as the first rain drops began to fall things took a dramatic turn for the worst.

Adam was the first to disappear. He was bringing up the rear of the patrol to protect the group's rear flank. Though he was new to Hotel Moscow; Adam was a veteran of the Russian army just like the rest of the recruits. The tall, slender man had been part of an advanced reconnaissance unit as a spotter for the snipers. Because of his keen eye he was the obvious choice to watch the patrol's back for suspicious movements.

Visibility was decreased with the arrival of the rain, and the low drumming of rain drops against the old neglected buildings drowned out subtler sounds. With the arrival of the cold rain also came a storm of an entirely different nature created by some unknown and murderous specter.

None of them were sure when exactly Adam was taken; they only discovered his absence when he did not respond to being asked for an update. He had been spirited away from right under their noses. The storm had arrived to lay claim to the foolish men standing in its path. Quickly drawing their automatic rifles the remaining members formed a tight knit circle to watch every possible approach as they continued down the alleyway.

A muffled grunt, the clanking of metal to concrete, and then silence… Everyone turned to find another member gone without a trace; the only proof of his prior existence was the discarded AK-47 laying on the ground and the hole in their ranks. If not for the deeply ingrained idea of discipline and order, panic would most definitely have taken over; but already it was beginning to rear its ugly head.

Anton knew that they would be severally reprimanded for going out without permission, but regardless of the consequences he knew he needed to call headquarters to tell them they were being attacked and where they were. The remaining three soldiers quickly started towards where they had left the car, hoping to reach it before they were attacked again. Anton pulled out his cell phone dialing the number for the dispatcher and…. nothing… Nothing but static filled his ear. They were alone with no chance of backup.

They picked up their pace from a fast walk to a full run for the hopeful safety of their car. After several minutes of running through the twisting maze of the port district in the pouring rain they had begun to hope that their assailant had been left behind them. Tesla, who had been running ahead of Anton, jerked to a violent stop and was thrown back to the ground like he had been hit in the chest by a bull, dashing any newfound hope. A closer inspection of Tesla's now motionless form revealed a gapping laceration across his neck, blood still draining out from the severed common carotid artery. His face was forever frozen in a state of absolute shock, and terror was still shown in his empty eyes. Viktor moved to where his friend had been standing and found what had killed him. In the dimly lit alleyway it was only now visible because of the thick crimson blood of its victim dripping off; a thin metal wire, most likely piano wire was strung up between the walls of the ally at perfect neck height.

"Damnit!" Viktor yelled in frustration. "The bastard set a trap for us! He has been herding us like sheep to the slaughter this whole time." Enraged by the thought of being toyed with he pulled out his combat knife to cut down the cable blocking their path.

Just as Viktor was cutting the cable Anton realized that the wire was only tided off on one end. "Viktor wait it's–" But it was already too late, Viktor cut the wire and before he could even fully turn around to look at Anton a steel shipping pallet with a dozen or more sharpened wrought iron spikes welded to it swung down like a pendulum from high above. Viktor never saw it coming, as he was impaled from behind by several of the jagged metal spikes. His now lifeless body remained in a limp standing position as it hung from the trap; a confused expression still on his face, making it clear that the spike that had crushed through the back of his skull and ripped out through his right eye had ended his life instantly and painlessly.

'_A trap within a trap?...'_ Anton thought to himself in utter shock. No one would go through the trouble of setting such a large trap unless they were certain it would be tripped by their intended prey, and to make that trap dependent on how the target reacts to something else to trigger it seemed irrational. It quickly dawned on Anton that whoever was killing them had been watching them since they first arrived and had planned everything out, down to who would find the trap and how they would react. It was the only possible explanation as to how such a trap could be made a rationally useful and effective tool. Even the order they were killed was all specifically planned out to have the complex trap work: Killing Adam who had the best sight of the group first ensured that no one would see the first trap, then killing Martin who was the fastest would make it sure Tesla would be the one to hit the wire, and that the hot headed Viktor would take out his frustration on the first trap. With this new realization Anton burst into a full run, moving around the gruesome puppet show which his friend had become in a desperate bid to reach the car before whoever was after him caught up to him.

After several nerve-racking minutes of running through the seemingly infinite maze of buildings Anton could see the car parked at the far end of the empty alleyway. Salvation was less than a hundred feet away and there were no traps to be seen. He began running towards the side street lit by the dim street lamps, at only twenty feet from the end of the alley it seemed certain he was safe. But as he reached for the keys to the car he froze in place.

A cloaked figure had landed at the end of the alleyway between him and the car. Though they had to of jumped from one of the rooftops three stories above, the figure seemed totally unaffected by the distance they had fallen. The figure slowly moved towards the frozen Anton. No matter how much he wanted to move his body, to will it to run from this shadow of death, he couldn't manage to move an inch. When the cloaked figure was only a few feet away Anton was finally able to speak: "What are you? Why are you killing us?"

The dark figure stopped just in front of him as the front of the cloak parted just enough to reveal a mid-length katana type sword before speaking. The voice was deep, grim, and utterly devoid of any hint or form of emotion: "Cherez zhazhda vlasti prikhodit tolʹko smertʹ." Anton instantly understood what the figure had said, _'Through lust for power comes only death.'_

Before he could say or do anything in reply, there was a sharp surge of pain and then only the feeling of falling until he felt the hard ground meet his head. Only then did he realize he had no feeling in his body, and the only thing he could see was his own feet. As reality set in his vision slowly began to fade into darkness, as the last of his blood drained from his severed head.


End file.
